When Prayer Is Not Enough

Anonymous
Your submission will answer the set of questions for each Scenario in APA format (cover page, double-spaced, etc.).

Each scenario case should meet the requirement of at least one page. To meet APA format rules requires a cover page. You may use the text without citation or reference; use of any other source requires both in-text citation and inclusion in references. For a submission that does not use any other materials beyond the text, you will have one page of cover, one to two pages of text per scenario. Use of references will require a reference page.

Decision Scenario 1

When Prayer Is Not Enough

“You’ll feel better soon,”Marylyn Tauber told her 8-year-old son Madison.“God doesn’t let bad things happen to people who believe in Him with all their heart, all their mind, and all their strength.”

Madison said nothing, but from his bed, he looked up at her with eyes that were dull. His lips were dry and cracked, and his face a dusky red. He didn’t seem to understand her. She put a hand on Madison’s cheek. He was burning with fever, and she wondered if it would be all right for her to put a cool washcloth on his forehead. Madison had been ill for three days. He had come home from school with a flushed face and a sore throat. She thought it was just another one of those summer colds he was always getting. But he’d gotten worse, not better. And his temperature was 102oF the last time she had taken it. She had given him ice and tried to get him to drink some Coke, but he hadn’t wanted anything since.

“I’ve been praying for you night and day,” Marylyn said. She tried to sound cheerful so she could lift Madi- son’s spirits. “I know God loves little boys, and he is going to heal you before long.”

She had to keep believing that, because she couldn’t face the possibility that Madison might die. He might, of course, if that were God’s will. But she wasn’t sure she was a good enough person to accept God’s will without complaint. She was frightened, but she knew she had to do the right thing. She couldn’t take him to a doctor without admitting that everything she believed was false.

1. We can assume that Marylyn loves Madison and wants to do what is best for him. She believes that prayer, not seeking medical help, is the best thing for Madison. Should parents always be the ones to decide what is in the best interest of their child?
2. If Madison dies, should Marylyn be charged with a crime?
3. The state places some limits on the expression of religious beliefs. We do not, for example, permit human or animal sacrifices. Should we require parents to seek medical assistance for their child when the child becomes ill, even if this means violating their religious beliefs?

Decision Scenario 2

Baby vs. Mom

Angela Carter was diagnosed as having bone cancer when she was 13 years old. Over the following years, she received a variety of treatments and underwent surgery several times. In one operation, her leg was amputated. By the time she was 27, the cancer had been in remission for three years, and she became pregnant. Twenty-five weeks into the pregnancy, she went for a routine checkup, and her physician discovered a large tumor in a lung. She was told she might have only days to live. She was admitted to George Washington Hospital, and five days later her condition worsened.

Despite the objections of Angela, her family, and even her physician, the hospital decided to attempt to save the developing child. The hospital went to court, and at a hearing staff physicians stated that, despite the feet that the fetus was only twenty-six weeks old, there was a fifty to sixty percent percent chance that it would survive if a cesarean section was performed. Furthermore, they estimated that there was less than a twenty percent chance that the child would be disabled. The physicians also testified that the surgery would increase the chances of Angela Carter’s death.

The hospital obtained a court order, which was immediately appealed. Because the case demanded a quick resolution, the three judges on the appeals court consulted by telephone. The whole process, hearing and appeal, took less than six hours. During this time, the hospital had ordered Angela prepared for surgery.

The appeals court let the lower court ruling stand, and Angela underwent the court-ordered surgery. The child, a girl, lived for only two hours. Angela lived for two days. The surgery was listed as a contributing cause of her death.

1. On what grounds might one object to the court- ordered surgery?
2. Is there any reason to view this case as different from ones involving drug abuse by a pregnant woman? That is, are the issues the same in both kinds of cases?
3. Suppose Angela Carter had been further along in her pregnancy so that the chance of her child’s survival was virtually certain and that she refused to have a cesarean birth. Would it be right to force her to have a cesarean delivery against her will?
4. Consider the claim that although a woman has a right to seek an abortion, if she decides to carry the fetus to term, then it has a right to have her pro- mote its best interest. Is this position consistent?

Decision Scenario 3

Justified Test?

“Has any close relative, like your mother, sister, or a grandmother, ever died of breast cancer?”Dr. Susan Jolan asked.

“No one,”Lola A’tibe said.“But I want to be tested for the gene anyway. I’m 40 years old and very health conscious, so I’d like to do everything I can to protect myself from breast cancer.”

“I understand your motive,”Dr. Jolan said.“I’ll arrange for you to be tested for both the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes as soon as possible.”

1. Is Dr. Jolan responding properly to her patient’s concerns? Why or why not?
2. Private companies have developed genetic tests that can be administered to whoever wants them and can pay for them. Why might critics object to this service?
3. If a woman is found to be the carrier of one of the mutated genes that cause breast cancer, this does not mean that she will develop breast cancer. It does mean that she is at greater risk than other women. Is this the sort of information a woman might find worth having?

Decision Scenario 4

A Duty to Tell or to Remain Silent?

“Dr. Gress, two of the people we tested for heart disease also turned out positive for the APOe gene,”Clara Chang said.“Do we have an obligation to notify them that they are at risk of developing Alzheimer’s?”

“Absolutely not,”Charles Gress said.“We have an obligation not to notify them. What good would it do for them to know they’re at risk for a disease that can’t be prevented and can’t be treated? It would only cause them distress and unhappiness.”

1. Is Dr. Gress’s position morally legitimate?
2. Does the fact that the knowledge was acquired accidentally as part of a research program and not at the request of the individuals relieve the investigators of any obligation to inform the test subjects of any genetic discoveries about them?
3. Could Dr. Gress’s position be considered paternalistic? If so, how might we recommend that the genetic information about individual patients be handled?
4. Some hold that sometimes patients have a duty to know their genetic status, even if they would prefer not to. Might an investigator have a duty to inform a patient of his status, even if the patient has said he doesn’t want to know the outcome of a test?

Decision Scenario 5

Donor Responsibility

“I’m going to sell my sperm for the simple reason that I need the money,” John Lolton said. “It’s no big deal.”

“I think it is,” Jane Cooper said. “You seem to think its like selling your blood, but it isn’t. If somebody is transfused with your blood, that’s an end to things. But if a woman is inseminated with your sperm, a child may result.”

“I don’t have any responsibilities for what people do with my sperm,” Lolton replied. “It’s just a product.”

“Not so,” Cooper said. “It’s a product all right, but if its used in artificial insemination, that means that you’re the father of a child. And if you’re the father of a child, that means you have to be willing to accept responsibility for that child.”

“That is absolute nonsense,” Lolton said.

1. If sperm is just a product, is Lolton correct in saying that he has no responsibilities for its use?
2. State as explicitly as possible Cooper’s argument that a sperm donor is responsible for any child re- sulting from AI with his donated sperm.
3. We expect biological parents to take responsibility for their offspring. Can a departure from this standard be justified when the child is born as a result of donated sperm or a donated egg?
4. Are there instances in which AI would be morally wrong? What is the moral status of a child conceived by AI?
5. Ova as well as sperm may be donated. Although women get paid more, on what grounds might one argue that they are exploited while men are not?

Decision Scenario 6

Embryo = Person?

“I’m curious,” Lois Ramer said. “What happens to the eggs you take from me that get fertilized but not implanted?”

“We donate them to other women,” Dr. Martha Herman said.

“Oh,” Lois Ramer said, sounding surprised. “I don’t want that to happen.”

“Why is that?”

“Because they belong to my husband and me, and implanting them into other women would be like giv- ing our children away.”

“But an egg isn’t a person,” Dr. Herman said.

1. Is it necessary to think that a fertilized egg is equivalent to a person to agree with Lois Ramer’s objection? Construct an argument supporting her position.

Sample Solution